Question

Homeownership rate from CPS data

When calculating the homeownership rate on the household level using household weights, I find very high homeownership rates pre 1985 (for example 68% in 1980) which are not in line with Census homeownership rate estimates (https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/RH...). Do you have an idea, where this difference is coming from?

Staff Answer

The figures you are calculating use the CPS Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC). The data shown in the FRED chart relies on the CPS Housing Vacancy Survey (HVS). There are differences in the housing unit estimates published in the HVS and ASEC. As noted by the Census: The ASEC is weighted to the population to describe characteristics of people living in households. The HVS is weighted to housing units, rather than the population, in order to more accurately estimate the number of occupied and vacant housing units. Because of the differences in weighting, estimates of the number of households in the ASEC and HVS do not match.

User Forum

The User Forum allows users to seek more information about our data tools by submitting questions for IPUMS staff or fellow users to answer, or by searching the answer base for previous questions and answers.